Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1887-07-21
JAKESHAREsPF sENTENcpa,
The Purchaser Of New York As.,
men Condemened to Pun.
ishment.
Doomed to -Four Years Imprisonn,,,
and Required to Pay a Fine
of $4,000.
New York special

Jacob Sharp, chief of the New Yo, #
"boodlers, has been sentenced to Sipo s..
for term of four years with hard l,l,. rs II
and fine Of $4,000 was imposed upon him e
The clock was indicating almost mn,
when sharp was almost carried into N.
court room. His suffering wife and son.h
law were close behind him, and deem lins,
OF weariness and sorrow oyersme,s
their faces as they seated themsphs, 1
beside tho convicted man and famed bs
livid face without bringing anything like,
semblance. of color back to it. Sham 81,
with clasped hands and bowed head al n.
foot OF the table, facing the bench, HI,
face. almoss buried in his chest. VA,
flushed and sickly looking under the nv
etea gaze of all present, who were silepty
staring at the convicted railroad kipr
Mrs. Sharp and the rest of the familI.
like the prisoner himself, were silent.
There was applause in the COURTROOM
when Judge Barrett delivered the sentence
and outside the announcement was ctea.
ed with cheers.
Sharp's lawyer moved for a new Till
but it was denied. The Court, in prc.
nouncing sentence, said the task he had 10
perform was the most delicate in his whols
professional! career. He had received many
letters from many people, pleading
for mercy for Sharp. But couf
was not appointed to be merciful
any more than was dictated by the
laws of justice. "a Judge is appointed 10
award penalty accord ng to the oiIense,
when all the circumstances connected with
the commission Of the ot'cnse have been
duly weighed and considered. The de-.
fendant herein asking for mercy can give
nothing as a plea for clemency but age and
sickness. On the merits of the case he
certainly is entitled to none. 1t is absum
to state that he was not gully of giving the
bribes, as he was unmistakably the Leader
of the whole affair. There is not here. as
in the case of the aldermen, any attempt to
prove the defendants good character. The
crime itself was an enormous one-tht
raising of 100000 to corrupt half legis.
latnre."
Judge Barrett reviewed the corrupt ac,
ton Of the defendant in forming bogu
company to contract with the Seventh Av
enue Railway, of which he is director
and alluded to the defendants receivin
81 100000 of profit us sheer larceny, TO
which he could have been indicted Just a
we'll as for bribery. The Judge continued
"What is there to excite pity or merc
except the age and ill-health of the pris
oner and the mourning condition of hi
family? With over 81 ,OOO, 900 in his pockt
he clamors for mercy without offering
pay back penny of the money stolen, S
that, should he die in prison. his famil
has vast fortune to fall back upon"
At this Mrs. Sharp buried her face j
her handkerchief and wept silently, Will
the prisoner himself did not lift his fac
from the table.
"The Legislature does not allow us TO G
below the minimum penalty in such gray
otfense as the present is, continued Judg
Barrett. Cali cannot be sat SIZED; thos
who clamor for the prisoners receiving til
full penalty of the law and those calling fc
reprimand. All things have been consid
cred, and the Judgment of this court is til;
the prisoner be confined four years at har
labor and that he pay a fine of $4,000"
Sharp was sent back TO spend the nigl
in Ludlow Street Jail. Application WI
made to Judge Potter, of the Suprem
Court, for a stay of proceedings.